The Road Back
by Harlequin
Summary: Paige goes home for the summer and finds a new face of prejudice within her own family.


**__**

Summer Vacation, Story 3:

The Road Back

By Mandy Lever

July-14-98

Diary-

It's so _good_ to be home!

The fresh air, the hills, old friends, my brothers and sisters, all of it. It's great. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I almost hope someone causes major property damage to the school next summer, so I can come home again. I mean, I want to get out of Kentucky and _do_ things with my life, but visiting and relaxing is soothing to body and soul.

Though, even though I have my family here, it is kinda lonesome. Without Angelo to talk to, or Jono just...being around. I really was surprised when he told me he was going home himself for the summer. Despite how badly things turned out the last time I brought him home, I almost asked him to come with me again. 

I want to write (and I'd love to hear his 'voice', but phones don't conduct telepathy well) but we've simply not got the postage down here for me to write both Ange and Jono. And Angelo is spending summer at the School, alone, and I feel so bad! Maybe I should have asked him to come down withme! Ah, perfect twenty/twenty hindsight as always, Paige.

But at least Jono has his family to fall back on, unlike Ange. I guess he's got something to break the monotony of his summer, where Ange has...Mr. Cassidy and Penance. Which, I'm sure, isn't all that entertaining for him.

Anyway, it's been a great first week here, and I'm really tired, so before the twins come in begging for a story, I'm hitting the lights and going to sleep. 

-Paige

********

And with that, Paige shutdown her laptop, and clicked it shut. No little siblings were going to get curious and get into her laptop, no sir. She yawned, and the quietly got up, turned off the

desk lamp, and then padded over to her bed, crawling under the covers and sighing softly. Then she reached over, and opened up the window, letting the cool summer breeze drift in, allowing her to gain some measure of peace between her sheets.

She lay back, and thought quietly of the differences of her life here, and her life with Generation X. So much had changed!

She could hardly believe that she was the same girl, lying in the bed of her youth. That she'd been away from home for two years. That she wasnineteen, a young woman on her

way to being a real X-Man…well, X-Woman.

She rolled onto her side, and looked at the empty bed in the room with her. Sharing a room was something she'd done most of her life. Her last sibling that she'd shared with before leaving

for Massachusetts was Joelle.

Joelle.

She thought idly of her sister, wondering what had become of her. Shortly after joining the Friends of Humanity, she'd been

convinced to come home. And then, instead, Joelle ran off--after her _first_ boyfriend was taken away by Fedral officers just to live with a _new_ boyfriend. What was the problem? Paige simply didn't understand her sister.

She rolled over again, and reached out for Picklebottom, wrapping her arms around the ragged and lumpy old bear, and sighed into his cloth body. Of course, he didn't have any reassuring words, or anything else to offer, except a somewhat comforting presence.

********

It could never be said that Lucinda Guthrie didn't love her children. She loved each and every one of them. And admittedly,

she had a lot of them. From twenty-three year old Samuel, to Joshua, Elizabeth, Paige, Joelle, Lewis, Jebediah, Ruth, and the eleven year old twins, Mark and Mariah. Her husband had died when the twins were very young, so they barely remembered

him. Sam had pulled out of school to work in the coal mines, and Elizabeth and Paige had helped take care of the children to ease their mother's burden.

But then, Elizabeth had married, leaving Paige with the hefty burden of aiding in child rearing. And Paige had done everything she could. She knew that the experience would give Paige the skills she needed to be a fine, fine mother as well some day, and only spurred her ambition to try harder at everything else, to make sure she was a success inside the home and out.

It was understandable, to Lucinda, that the little girl wanted out of the house. Especially when Sam left to fend fo himself and learn about his mutant powers. Xavier's had supported them, and enabled them to keep the farm running. Dr. McCoy had generously offered to 'modernize' the farm, but Lucinda had politely refused. She was an old fashioned woman, and learning all of McCoy's technology was beyond her, so set in her ways as she was.

The widow Guthrie paused, looking over the kitchen, early in the morning. Four of her babies were out of the house, and

sometimes, it seemed emptier for it. But, regardless, she went back to preparing a breakfast.

She paused, however, as another coughing fit took her. She'd been getting those a lot, lately, and didn't know what to do or make of them. She couldn't afford to get sick - with six

children still at home, they still needed a guiding hand. And she wasn't about to put Paige back into the position of babysitter while she was here on her summer vacation. She deserved a break, didn't she?

And speak of the devil, promptly at six, Paige trundled down the stairs in her jogging togs. "Hi Momma," she called, bright

eyed and lacking any signs of drowsiness or sleep. 

Lucinda looked at her daughter, and nodded. "Hello, Paige." Paige wanted sobadly to suceed, she almost ate, slept, and breathed ambition. And though Lucinda was proud of her, she sometimes thought her daughter needed to slow down.

Paige didn't seem to notice her mother's glance, or lingering look, as she crossed to the backdoor. "Ah'm gonna go joggin',

Momma. Ah'll be back soon," she said as she put her hand on the knob, giving the sticky door knob a good twist and a sharp pull so the door would open.

But when she went to go out the door, she stopped. There was somone in the door, trembling hand poised to knock. She knew

the face immediately. Even with the puffy, battered lips, bruises curling around her eye socket and marring her temple, even with the blatantly broken nose, Paige could recognize her.

It was Joelle.

"Oh mah GAWD!" she gasped, throwing open the doors to her trembling sister. "Git yoah ass in here! Momma, where's the first

aid kit? Git some ice!" Joelle couldn't even speak, only gasp softly as Paige gripped her gently by the shoulder and pulled her into the house.Finally, once she gotmanuvered to the table, the brown-haired girl yelped, and finally said, "Paige, that's enough! Ah'm alright!"

Paige froze there, first aid kit in hand, as her mother moved over to the table and pulled out a chair. "Sit down, honey." she said softly to her brown-haired daughter, and Joelle did as she was

bid. 

"Joelle, honey, what happened?"

"It was...." her voice trailed off, and she finally said, "Momma, talk ta me alone. Without _her_." Paige blinked, and then set the first aid kit on the table. "Ah'll...Ah'll go on mah jog, now, Momma."

Lucinda just nodded, and then turned her attention back to the battered Joelle.

********

A hour later, Paige returned from the leisurely jog around the fields, sighing softly. She'd stopped, midway though, and walked to the pond on her family's property, and almost considered taking a dip. Not like anyone else out there would _see_ her. But she decided to save that for later. 

She looked over her family's farm with quiet contemplation, and then stopped, by one of the old fences, leaning against the weathered wood and tilting her head back, letting the sun kiss her skin with its warmth.

"Well, well, well. It's one'a them city Guthries," came a voice from nearby. Paige started briefly, and looked around. Who'd

snuck up on her? "Haven't seen you much in the past two years, Paige."

The voice belonged to a tall, well-built man she knew on sight. Chet Woodsley, tousled brown hair, brown eyes, and tan from working in his daddy's fields, leaned on the fence not far from

where she just came.

"Hello, Chet," she said, pushing away from the fence casually. She didn't know why her instincts were screaming at her

that something was wrong; Chet Woodsley was a basically nice guy, and worked hard. But there was just something _wrong_ here. "No, Ah've been at school."

"So Ah heard," he replied just as casually. He smiled at her disarmingly, and then asked, "Hey, you ain't see Joelle 'round

here, lately?"

So _that's_ why her warning sensors were going off. Her eyes brightened, and she saw him shift a little as he noticed her

realize what he was here for. "Joelle? What about Joelle?" she asked carefully. Was he the one who...?

"Well, Ah could get inta this here an' now, Paige, but this isn't involvin' you."

"It's involvin' mah sistah. Guthries stick t'gethah."

"Joelle ain't a Guthire no more, Paige," Chet said simply, not anything but ever casual. "She's a Woodsley, now. An' so's her

baby."

"So's her _what_?" she straightened. "Ya mean ta tell me that she's-"

"Carryin' a baby."

"Oh mah Gawd...."

"She's five months along."

Paige just looked at him in numb shock. No, Joelle was too thin. She couldn't be five months along in a pregnancy… could she? Then her eyes narrowed to blue slits. "Yoah the papa?"

"Would Ah be here othahwise?" He looked vaguely annoyed with her. "Look, gal, if you've seen her, Ah wanna know. Ah'm not just gonna stand by while she runs-"

"Ah think ya should go now, Chet," Paige said, straightening, her voice tight. "Ah'll see what Ah kin find out 'bout Joelle. But Ah don't think Ah should see you on the farm, till then." 

Chet's brown eyes narrowed, and for a split second, Paige got a glimpse of the venom within. "Ah'll do that, Guthrie. But you keep up yoah end of the deal."

"Don't you worry, Chet. Ah will." 

The older man nodded, and pushed away from the fence. "See that ya do, Paige. See that ya do." With that said, he began to walk away, silent as before.

Paige waited till he was out of sight, on the road, and then began to run home, full tilt. She had to know what Joelle had told their mother, but she had to know-- had that bastard hurt her sister, or worse yet, the niece or nephew she was carrying?

********

"Momma! Momma!"

Lucinda Guthrie quickly straightened up, as she heard Paige call her name. It wouldn't do for her to see her mother doubled over, coughing into the sink. 

"Yes, honey?" she said softly, trying to keep the the quaver from her voice. Fortunately, Paige was too distracted to notice her mother's strain or the tightness to her face. "Momma, Chet Woodsley was on the property, an' he was askin' 'bout Joelle, an'-"

"Ah know, Ah know. He's...Joelle's lovah," The words slipped from her lips like some disgusting bit of food to be spat back

at the plate from whence it came. Lucinda Guthrie was not pleased about her daughter's choice in men, marital status, or life in general. 

"Momma, Chet Woodsley is three years oldah then Sam!" Paige first exclaimed, followed up with, "An' Joelle is two years younger'n me. What _happened_?"

Lucinda shook her head silently, and said, "Ah couldn't stop her, Paige. She didn't want ta be with us no more, she was determined ta be on her own, an' she just walked outta our lives lahk we didn't mattah. And maybe, ta her, we didn't." She sighed softly.

Paige moved over to her side, and put her hand to her mother's shoulder as the older Guthrie looked down into the sink. "Oh, Momma, Ah wish ya'd told me."

"Ah know, Paige, but there was nothin' ya could do. You'd gone back ta school, an' we didn't expect you ta save her from herself again, did we?" Her mother turned and took Paige's hands in her

own. "Ah know how important yoah schoolin' in to ya. Ah wouldn't want ya ta give that up."

Paige's delicate brows gathered together and furrowed her forehead, and she said, "Thank you, Momma. But-"

"But nothin', gal," Lucinda pulled her daughter into a brief hug, and then released her. "Now, Ah'm gonna go get some of the

chores done. Joelle's asleep up in her old bed," she added, "so ya may want t'-"

"Yes, Momma. Ah'll jus tip-toe in an' get mah laptop an' a change'a clothes." 

Lucinda smiled wearily. "Ahlright." She silently watched her daughter head upstairs, and then moved away from the sink. She felt warm, she knew, but she had things to do, and a farm to keep up. The hands did part of the work, but she still had to be out there with them. 

********

The door-hinges hadn't been oiled since the last time Paige had stayed at the house, and so the whine of protest of metal against metal squealed out as the member of Generation X tried to sneak back into her room.

Joelle didn't stir. She lay still, as Paige made her way from the squeaky, open door, and tip-toed her way over to the desk. She gathered up her laptop, still remaining as quiet as can be.

But quiet apparently didn't cut it. When she turned around, Joelle was sitting up in her bed, glowering from beneath her bruised brows, her dark eyes angry. "So how long ya been home, Paige?" She asked. It was a casual enough question, though Paige wondered where she was leading with it.

"Couple'a weeks." Paige shifted, uncomfortable under her sister's gaze. She chidded herself inwardly. She'd faced Emplate, Humanity's Last Stand cultists, Faeries from another dimension, and Omega Red. She could face her little sister. Her beaten, pregnant, little sister.

"Really," Joelle said simply. "An' where's yoah freak boyfriend this time?" she asked smoothly, not one word seemingly out of place, "He find someone else t' fool around with?"

Paige's eyes flashed."Yoah got no room t' talk. What 'bout you an' Chet? An' the baby? Yoah boyfriend hittin' ya?"

Joelle's eyes went wide, and she threw back the covers, trying to scramble to her feet. "You shut yoah mouth or I'll take if off, Paige!"

For a time, they glowered at one another, testing the dominance - would it be world-wise Paige, or would it be beaten Joelle? "Ah saw him on the property, Joelle," Paige watched her sister wince, brown eyes tightening. "He told me everythin', 'bout you bein' pregnant."

"So Momma didn't tell you?"

"No," she was silent a moment, before speaking again. "Ah told him Ah hadn't seen ya. Ah… Ah don't think he believed me." 

It was Joelle's turned to look smug. "Well, that's cuz yoah a rotten liar, Paige." She said primly. 

The stare-contest for dominance continued for a few moments more, but eventually the brown-haired girl broke away, seating herself on the bed again.

Paige was quiet a moment more, and then asked, very softly, "Joelle, what happened? Why he do this to ya?"

"Ah… When we found out Ah was pregnant, we went inta the city. He wanted ta make sure his first baby got the best. While we were there, we got … Ah got the baby tested for the X-factor."

Paige felt her heart swell with joy and drop with dread, all at the same time. "And?"

"An'…An' Ah think you know where Ah'm headed," her lip began to tremble. "He… He said he didn't want no mutant daughter. An' then he told me he wanted me ta get rid of her an' Ah couldn't Paige, Ah couldn't kill a baby…"

Paige suddenly felt a surge of rage. "An abortion? Joelle, you're in yoah second trimester. You could be hurt! Killed! An' the baby …" 

"Don't you think Ah know that? Ah may not go to some special school for gifted mutants, Paige, but Ah'm not stupid," she snapped back. "Ah wouldn't do it. So … so Ah think he tried ta beat it out of me. Inta a miscarriage."

The world faded out of view briefly. To think, Chet Woodsley had been in perfect throttling range just hours ago! Paige wanted nothing more then to wrap her hands around his throat and squeeze every last breath from his body, for what Joelle just told her. 

"Ah… Ah swear ta God, Joelle, if he ever lays a hand on you again, Ah'… Ah'll damn well kill him."

The silence fell between them again. Paige dropped down heavily on the edge of her bed, laying her laptop to the side, and said, "Do ya wanna talk about it?"

"No." 

Paige worried at her lower lip,

********

July - 15 - 1998

She's pregnant! 

My little sister is pregnant! With a mutant!

And her boyfriend tried to beat her into a miscarriage. And if I get to him, so help me, he'll never sire a child the rest of his miserable, bigoted life.

I don't know what to do. I want to hunt Chet Woodsley down and beat him with an inch of his mutant-hating life. But that'll just make him 'right' and validate his hate and fear of his own, unborn child, since that daughter's 'mutant aunt' would be the one doing the butt-kicking. 

Some days, you simply can't win. I just hope to God that Joelle makes the right choice for her and her baby, and stays at home. It… It was really nice to talk to her for once, like sisters do. I mean, she's the only one (other then Elizabeth, who's older then me) I don't really know anymore. 

But I don't think it's going to last. Joelle's always thought that she knows better then anyone else. Maybe, if we're lucky, this will teach her otherwise.

Then again, maybe not.

Well, tonight I'm going to put my phone card to use - I was going to save it for something important, and well, here's something important! I've got to get in touch with Dr. McCoy. If Joelle is really pregnant with a mutant baby, she ought to have the best doctor around. And that's Dr. McCoy.

Anyway, dinner's up in a little while, so I best get going. 

-Paige

********

The phone didn't ring much these days, in the interim after Bastion's assault.But when it did, it either inspired dread, hope, or a strange mixture of the two… as well as a race to answer it.

"MINE!" Marrow snarled as she pounced upon the portable phone, clicking it's talk button, and then grating into it, "You've reached 1-800-FREAK-FUCK. If ya wanna hear a pretty mutant cum, press -"

"SARAH!"

Marrow's spiel was cut off as Ororo's temper flared and the winds she commanded as Storm swept the phone from the Morlock's grasp. The bone-girl glared at her former and current leader, and then began to slink away. Ororo sighed softly, "Must work must be done with that child," and then brought the phone to her ear. "I'm very sorry. Are you still there?"

There was a brief pause, and then a nervous titter. "Ms. Munroe? This is Paige Guthrie."

"Ah, yes. Samuel's Sister." At the other end, Paige bit back a sharp retort. No, she was not just 'Samuel's Sister'. She was Husk, of Generation X! Future leader of the X-Men, much as Ororo was now.

But she didn't bother to remind them of this fact. She merely listened as Ororo went on to ask, "Do you want to speak with him? He's -"

"Uhm. No Ma'am." Paige interrupted as politely as she could. Sam was the last person she wanted to talk to - he'd fly down and beat her to beating Chet to a bloody pulp. "Actually, I'm calling for Dr. McCoy."

Ororo paused briefly. "Dr. McCoy is downstairs in his lab, with Dr. Reyes. Let me see if he is available."

"Thank you, Ms. Munroe."

The African Goddess practically glided downstairs, ignoring the sullen glower she received from Marrow as she strode past the Danger Room doors.

She stopped before the doors to McCoy's lab, and rang the door-chime. They swooshed open, and she hear Hank call out to her, "Enter, my dear Ororo." He was perched at his desk, going over some file or another, probably data from the Muir Island research on the Legacy Virus. 

"Ms. Guthrie is on the phone for you."

One bushy, blue brow spocked up, and with that, Hank nodded to Ororo, and then reached over and flipped the speaker-phone on his desk, his deep voice rumbling out, "Greetings and salutations, Ms. Guthrie. This the indubitable Dr. McCoy." He ignored the wry snort and a mutter from Cecilia, and instead smiled at Paige's giggle at the other end. "How may I be of service?"

"It's a pleasure to be speaking with you again, Dr. McCoy." She began, "But I have called about a very serious matter."

Hank's demeanor shifted as Paige began to explain, over the next half an hour, the situation. Joelle. Chet. The baby. The beating. Cecila stopped working as she heard the girl's voice fill the silence, and as her tale unfolded, the two began to feel the beginings of silent, righteous outrage.

"I know you're very busy, Dr. McCoy, but … I don't know who else to go to about this. Mr. Cassidy and the school don't have the resources to handle this, and I don't think my Mother will want her leaving -"

"Ms. Guthrie," Hank interrupted, " rest assured that I-"

"We! You're the geneticist, I'm the doctor!" Cecilia chimed in with.

"Ahem. We shall do everything we can. Let me convene with my colleague, and see what can be done. We shall be calling you back, post haste. Don't fret, my dear," he paused briefly, " You are at the Kentcuky domicile of the Guthrie Clan, correct?"

"The one and only, Dr. McCoy."

"Very well. We'll be ringing you up as soon as we have a plan of attack. Dr. Reyes and I shall be on this immediately."

"I understand, Dr. McCoy. I'll be waiting."

"Good evening, Ms. Guthrie. We'll be speaking again, at the nonce." And with that, he flipped off the phone.

"Well, Hank?" 

Hank looked calmly over at his companion and errant X-Man. "Well, lets see how we can best serve the next generation of Homo Superior."

********

The return call told Paige exactly what she wanted to hear.. Dr. McCoy, and a recent addition to the X-Men, Dr. Cecilia Reyes, would be accompanying him. They didn't have the Blackbird at their disposal, however, and so would be taking a few days to get down to the farm.

Their call had come after a horrendously tense dinner; eyes shifted between all of the Guthrie siblings to rest on their prodigal sister, and then moved in silent communication again. There were covert nods, shrugs, motions and rarely, a whispered reply. Lewis even broken the silence with a sniggered, 'So much for her cheerleader's figure!', but was soon silenced the a wicked glare from his mother. After that, they continued on in silence. At the end of the meal, Joelle excused herself and retreated to

her old room, Josh headed out to play at the local bar, and the kids went to their respective chores or homework.

As soon as the phone call came, Paige sought the freedom of the Kentucky hills, the sky alight with a blazing sunset. It smeared the pale blue withbloody reds, deep oranges and vibrant lavenders.It was one of those sights that make her love her home. 

She sat on a hill, over looking some of the unused farmland, and the pond that she'd passed, jogging earlier that morning. She remembered her desire for a swim earlier, and now indulged it.

Retreating to the mental age of about ten, she scurried to the pond's edge, doffed her clothes, and got into the water. The pond was good sized, and over twelve feet deep in the center. It was deliciously chill against her bare skin, feeling so very good! She soon acclimated to the water, and was drifting blissfully in the pool.

She briefly thought how scandalized the others would be if they knew she was 'skinny dipping' on her own. Angleo would probably have some lewd comment, Jubilee would probably be somewhat shocked that she enjoyed such a thing, Everett and Monet would be scandalized, and Jono...? Jono'd probably act

nonplussed.

Or maybe, just maybe he'd join her? Now, wasn't that a pleasant thought! Of course, the class would probably be equally disturbed that the oh-so driven, pure hayseed was engaging in a sensual fantasy about someone. But she didn't really care. Her emotions for Jono ran very deep, but they werecertainly more then platonic! She had romantic designs on him, and there

was no small amount of sexual desire tossed in for good measure. But that wasn't everything...it was just why she was

floating dreamily in the water, imaging that the lap of it against her flesh was the brush of strong, musician's hands....

Her indulgences were cut short, however. Just as the tension was beginning to drain from her and melt away into the water, she heard a twig snap in the brush nearby. She briefly sank into the

water, modesty returning, but she mentally chided herself. It was probably just one of her brothers or sisters, come looking for her.

But the grating voice she heard as she surfaced didn't belong to anyone related to her.

"Ya broke yoah promise, Paige."

It was Chet Woodsley.

The first thing thought was this: She was naked in a pond with her sister's abusive lover on the shore. 

This did not bode well. Regardless, she swallowed her apprehension and cooly answered him.

"What promise is that, Chet?"

"Ya told me ya'd tell me if ya'd seen her. And I know she's at yoah momma's place. So ya best be for fetchin' her to me." Gone was the cool casualness of earlier this morning; Chet's voice was cold steel with a hard edge.

"I don't recall promising you anything." Paige answered, inflecting every word with calm ease. Gone was the laid-back

farmgirl, to the same place as the sweet-as-honey tones Chet had used earlier. She paddled quietly in the water, getting near the oppisite bank. She needed distance, if she was going to have to fight him - she'd at least needto husk into a form with clothes. 

"Don't ya go anywhere!" he snapped, and she could hear him coming around the edge, picking up his pace. 

She scrambled from the water's edge, moving into the brush, ignoring the light scratches they raised on skin that would soon

to be removed. And he came barreling after her.

He crashed through, as she got a grip on her flesh, and began to tear it away - there, she was normal. She didn't need her mutant powers to win this fight. Unlike Joelle, she'd been through this kind of thing before.

He crashed through the foliage, ready to grab her shoulder, trying to spin her around, but was surpised to find himself

airborne as his arm extended. She delivered him with a hard crack to the ground. "Son of a bitch!" she called as he flew, and then waited for him to stagger to his feet.

The more rational part of her knew she shouldn't do this. That she was fueling his hate, giving him every little bit of validation he needed to justify loathing his own flesh and blood. But the

rational voice was drowned out by roar of blood in her ears and the fact that this man had hurt her sister and tried to kill her unborn child. And for that, Paige was going to pay him back, blow for blow. 

He was bigger and stronger then she was.

She was a trained combantant used to far more intimdating and powerful foes. 

He fought in bars, as a good ole boy did.

She'd fought Prime Sentinels and marrow-devouring villians.

He didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell.

As soon as he moved for her, he was greeted with two sharp jabs in quick sucession to his face, breaking his nose and splitting the skin of her knuckles. Beneath was a form of steel, cold and hard like the rage within her.

She didn't stop as he tumbled back. A kick lashed out, catching him hard in the chest, and then as he doubled over and she

regained her balance, she swung her steely fist toward his temple- 

--to be caught up in her brother's arms, hearing him yelling in her ear, "What in God's name ya think yoah doin'?"

Sam. 

Sam was here. Sam was here and he was stopping her from beating the living, holy hell out of Chet Woodsley. She caught her breath as Sam looped around, stunned at his abrupt arrival. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hank told me all about Joelle," he said flatly, as he came to land before the very unconscious Chet, releasing her abruptly. She got her balance, and then stared back at him incredulously. "Nice of ya ta let me know 'bout mah sister bein' beat up." He growled.

She folded her arms defiantly over her chest, an glared at him. "I'm sorry, Sam, I was thinking of getting Joelle some help...How did you get down here so quick, anyway?"

"Ah flew. What do ya think Ah did?" he retorted as he went to pick up the broken form of Chet from the brush. "Ah'm...

dissapointed in ya, Paige. Ah thought they taught you ta do bettah then this at Massachusetts." He carefully situated Chet in his arms, his blue eyes dark and angry as they locked on the now outraged expression on hislittle sister's face.

"Why, I ought to-"

"Learn some control," he snapped, "If ya evah plan ta be an X-Man." His blast field flared to life with a roar, as as he left, he called back, "Get yoahself home!" And then, he was gone.

Paige stood there and fumed, doing her best to not lose her cool, and either engage in mindless destruction or cry. Either was an equally possible course at the time. Instead, she grabbed the clothes she'd left behind at the pond, and began to run home.

********

Angie-

Yes. I know it's been a week since I wrote you last. Between now and then I've discovered that my sister Joelle is pregnant

with a mutant baby, kicked the hell out of her abusive boyfriend, got in a fight with Sam, and helped Dr. McCoy get set up in the house we used to use for the immigrant workers.

Yeah, I bet your jaw's on the floor, ain't it, Espinosa? I'm not going intodetail about Joelle. We'll just that say that she's made some mistakes and she's trying to cope.

Chet...we'll, he's my mistake. Sam was right, I shouldn't have lost my cool with him. Dispite evidence to the contrary,

though, we Guthries do stick together. I couldn't just let him get away with hurting her and her baby. Of course, on a happier note, he's now in another county and all I can say is good riddance to bad rubbish. So, what was next? Oh! Dr. McCoy. (He says hi, by the way) Dr. McCoy and Dr. Reyes (whose mother is Puerto Rican, like you!) are down here, till the baby is born. They've run some prelimary tests, and the say the baby is

indeed a mutant and that it's a physical mutation. This has me somewhat worried, but I'm sure it'll all work out for the best.

Well, then. I got in touch with Mr. Cassidy - I wanted to talk to you, but he said you weren't back from camping with Jubilee and Mr. Logan. (what's up with that? How'd they get the City Mouse into the woods?) to let him know what was happening. I'm thinking of staying longer than just the summer, because I think Mom's getting sick, and Sam's not staying here while the

X-Men need him. The baby is due around the Christmas break, so I've gotten leave to come up here then. Oh! And he told me

that Jono was home early. Tell him hi for me. 

Anyway, I've got to get going. Like I said, I think Mom's getting sick and I want to help her fix dinner. After all, we've got two guests!. 

Love, 

Paige

********

Angelo sighed softly as he folded up the letter and replaced it in his pocket. He leaned back on the roof of the boys dorm - the night-time perch he chose to relax on. He turned his eyes to the

girls dorm. Two lights were on - Gayle's room, and Jubilee's room. 

A dark figure strode purposefully across the quad, and Angelo knew it was Jono. His brows furrowed, and then he shook his

head. After Jono vanished into the building, a few moments later, the light in Gayle's room danced as she moved by the window. Then, it went out. 

"Yeah, Paige, I'll be sure and tell him 'hi' for you..." he muttered to himself. With that, the night was far less hospitable, and he lowered himself to his window and then crawled through.

What a position to be in - between his two best friends. Such a love triangle! Jono and Paige were as much an item as they could be, and Angelo thought he'd been pretty blatant in his attempts to snag the Country Mouse before Jono'd entered the scene. But like any good friend, he'd backed away, letting the scarred Brit try his luck at love. Now, he was beginning to seriously regret that descision. Especially if Jono was just going to throw it

away. 

He shimmeyed out of his clothes and into some comfotable sweats before crawling between the sheets. But sleep was a long time in coming.


End file.
